By Liam Isola 
I was guilty of neglecting this blog for too long. So, to revive it, I set out to write 52 posts in 52 weeks, starting last February when I moved back to Mexico City.
This marks the end of the experiment, and I’m grateful to anyone who is reading this. I hope you got something from my posts, even if it was just a single idea for a future trip.
While most of my old posts were related to budget travel and money-saving tips, which are still the main focuses of the blog, writing 52 posts has allowed me to cover new ground. A lot of my old posts were limited in scope, and I’ve been able to write more about other topics I’m interested in over the past year.
I had thought making one post each week wouldn’t be too big a challenge. I couldn’t have been more wrong about that. There were some weeks where the motivation just wasn’t there. There were others where it took quite a while to come up with an idea I was satisfied with.
The last few months, I’ve been busy with freelance endeavors and another website. I have often had to scramble to get a post in to keep up the challenge. I do not want to compromise on post quality for an arbitrary goal. So, going forward, my posts will be more intentional. Realistically, that means they’ll be more sporadic.
I’m not entirely sure what the post schedule will be, but I likely won’t be doing weekly posts for quite some time. With that, I’d like to look back on some of my personal favorite posts from the last year that you may have missed.
52 Posts in 52 Weeks: Best Of – Itineraries
This year, I finally stopped procrastinating and wrote about past trips I’ve made in Europe and Southeast Asia. I also got to write more in-depth about Mexico City, which I’ve spent quite a lot of time in over the last few years.
So, here are some of my favorite posts from the 52 posts in 52 weeks experiment:
Winter Cross-Country Road Trip
52 Posts in 52 Weeks: Best Of – Questions and Answers
Most of, if not all, of these posts stemmed from travel questions I had myself. I am most definitely not a cold-weather person. So, I was curious which cities, in both the US and worldwide, had the best winter weather.
I’ve also never seen the Northern Lights. So, I was wondering which countries have the best opportunities for viewing the phenomenon.
Best Winter Weather in the World
Miscellaneous Posts:
Writing 52 posts in 52 weeks helped me get out of my comfort zone a bit. I wrote about my love of live music a few weeks back, along with the upcoming World Cup, and Mexico City anti-gentrification protests.
Here are some topics that are all broadly travel-related, but not strictly about traveling:
New Year’s Resolutions and Traveling
Concert Travel + the Best Albums of 2025
Money/Time Saving Tips/Things to Do:
These are some of my favorite articles to write. In a world where companies are brazenly trying to maximize profits at the expense of service and quality, it’s worth learning how to game their systems. Also, there are certain products you can buy that could actually save you money on your travels.
Chase Sapphire Reserve Changes
I also wrote about some free things to do in Chicago and Florence, Italy, which are worth checking out. Here are those articles, along with some cheap eats in both Chicago and Condesa, in Mexico City:
Cheap Eats Condesa, Mexico City
Underappreciated Destinations
Google Analytics tells me that of the few legitimate visitors I receive, many are located in the United States. I enjoy writing about underappreciated destinations worldwide, but especially in the US. The US is where I took my first budget trips, and my love of travel stemmed from.
Even though our country has a ton of flaws, it is an undeniably beautiful place. You could spend a lifetime traveling in the US and not even come close to seeing half of what it has to offer.
So, here are some articles about underrated and overlooked destinations in the US:
Overlooked National Parks in the West
I also wrote about some underrated countries and European cities, for those who are interested:
Lists
My attention span is short, so I assume it’s easier for readers like me to take in information in a list form. Here are various lists I made this year with various topics.
Most Popular Attractions in the 20-Least Visited Countries
15 Cheap European Cities to Watch Soccer In
Six Day Trips from Mexico City
Eight Beautiful Places in Albania
52 Posts in 52 Weeks: Best Of – 53 Posts?
In reality, this will be the 53rd post in 52 weeks on Vacation Vulture. It’s the 52nd that I wrote myself, but my friend Jeremy Kruger also wrote a guest post about a hidden gem beach town in Albania.
Thanks to Jeremy for making history…at least on this small blog. His post is very in-depth, so I’d highly recommend anyone remotely interested in Albania to click the link above.
What’s Next?
Without the pressure of having to write 52 posts in 52 weeks again, I’m thinking about making more in-depth, long-form content. I’ve spent enough time in Mexico City to write tens of thousands of words on it.
So, I would like to shift some of my attention towards making more Mexico City-specific content. That may also extend to Mexico as a whole, as I’ve done quite a bit of traveling around the country. I’m planning on doing more this year and checking off some bucket list items.
Writing about the protests in Mexico City was one of my favorite posts. It is altogether too easy to travel to a place without actually understanding the context/the locals’ experiences. That makes it easy to view with rose-colored glasses.
However, we all make impacts with the money we spend and our choices to travel. I hope to highlight the full picture of the destinations I travel to more, and not present a surface-level view of them.
I’ve also been working on a book project for the last year or so. I hope to share some insights from it here, as it relates to the loneliness crisis, which is serious in the US and worldwide.
There’s a reason it’s called the “Travel industry”. Travel can often feel like a pre-packaged product that doesn’t necessarily feel connecting. You can easily slip into your own bubble while visiting a place.
So, I’d like to highlight the importance of making deeper connections with communities and places while traveling. Thanks so much again for reading! I’m open to any suggestions about content. Just leave a comment down below, and I’ll get back to you.